Speaker 1: Callaroga Shark Media, find me home. Jenny Mack with your
Speaker 1: daily comedy news. Nice job. Bert Chrascher, Tampa native. He's
Speaker 1: announced a benefit show for victims of Hurricane Helene or
Speaker 1: to be at Ruth Eckert Hall on Saturday, October twelfth,
Speaker 1: eight pm. Surprise guests will be announced. I bet Burton
Speaker 1: gets some especially in Florida, get some pretty good people
Speaker 1: to show up at this. Bert said, I was born
Speaker 1: in Saint Petersburg, raised in Tampa, and went to school
Speaker 1: in Tallahassee. Anything that happens at the state of Florida,
Speaker 1: I always feel like happens to me. I think all
Speaker 1: Floridians feel this way. Florida defined me in the Bay
Speaker 1: Areas family. I'll do anything to help family. All proceeds
Speaker 1: from the show we'll go to metropolitan ministries to aid
Speaker 1: relief of hurricane victims. Bert aid, is what you want
Speaker 1: to look up if you want to attend that. The
Speaker 1: La Times did a nice profile of Ahmed Ahmed. He
Speaker 1: started taking acting classes when he was nineteen, met Vince
Speaker 1: Vaughn and crashed on Vince Vaughan's couch. He said, I
Speaker 1: was making good money booking roles as the terrorists. The driver,
Speaker 1: the sleazy guy called my agent and said, can I
Speaker 1: audition for the friend, the doctor, the lawyer. The cop
Speaker 1: ed says, whenever there's a conflict in the Middle East,
Speaker 1: that's when my career either rises or falls. He got
Speaker 1: tired of the type casting and stereotyping. He said, it
Speaker 1: didn't feel right, and that's when I decided to shift
Speaker 1: in a stand up comedy to have a voice. He
Speaker 1: started doing a weekly show at Dublins on sunset. They
Speaker 1: had a big metal tub of peanuts and people would
Speaker 1: throw the shells on the floor. But every Tuesday night,
Speaker 1: rain or shine, we'd fit three hundred people. This is scary.
Speaker 1: In twenty fifteen, after performing at Palestine's inaugural one thousand
Speaker 1: and one Laughs Comedy Festival, Ahmed was halted at the
Speaker 1: Tel Aviv airport. He said he was detained with M
Speaker 1: sixteen rifles in his face, strip searched and interrogated for
Speaker 1: twelve hours. He described the Israeli Defense Force as inhumane
Speaker 1: on Facebook, which resulted in dozens of messages accusing him
Speaker 1: of anti Semitism. He says, I'm Semitic. I wasn't saying
Speaker 1: anything about Jews or israel I was criticizing the Israeli
Speaker 1: Defense Force. That's like NWA saying f the police for
Speaker 1: the La Times, Ed says, ever since I've been irrational,
Speaker 1: I've had blind range. He described some incidents as comic
Speaker 1: drama between him and other stand up comedians that have
Speaker 1: gotten and bounced from the comedy store in the laugh Factory.
Speaker 1: During one show, an audience member made a nine to
Speaker 1: one to one call. Im Ed had said, how many
Speaker 1: Muslims are Middle Easian people here in the audience? Great,
Speaker 1: there's a small group of us in here, but hey,
Speaker 1: it only takes one. Two cops appeared at the club
Speaker 1: the following night, but he was allowed to continue with
Speaker 1: the set. I'm at joked, is a terrorist organization good
Speaker 1: to send their headhunter to an American comedy club. I
Speaker 1: want you to fly all the way to America. I
Speaker 1: want you to learn English really good. I'm gonna put
Speaker 1: you in comedy classes. Eugene Merman spoke to WPR about
Speaker 1: appearing on Flight of the Concords way back when it's
Speaker 1: been a minute since that show. How did you connect
Speaker 1: with Bretton Jamine? By the way, are you familiar with
Speaker 1: the Mandela effect? That's where, like things you're convinced happened
Speaker 1: are true, and then the world changes. I'm originally from
Speaker 1: a world where the guy on Flight of the Concords
Speaker 1: was named Germaine with an R. At some point teleported
Speaker 1: to where you and I are now, where the guy
Speaker 1: spells his name Jemmaine. That was not the case. Also
Speaker 1: where I'm from. On Game of Thrones, the lead actress
Speaker 1: his last name is Heatley. There's no L in her
Speaker 1: name anymore. I don't know what's going on. Maybe that
Speaker 1: explains the Bob's Burgers thing. Maybe where I'm from there
Speaker 1: is no Bob's Burgers, and that's why you guys think
Speaker 1: there is one. Something like that. We'll get to that
Speaker 1: a second. Eugene said, I did a show in Edinburgh,
Speaker 1: I think in two thousand and five and saw them
Speaker 1: and met them, and I believe Dmitri Martin had done
Speaker 1: a show with them maybe before that, and they were
Speaker 1: coming to the US. So we did shows together in
Speaker 1: small venues in New York, and they were at Aspen
Speaker 1: Comedy Festival when I was there. It's like anything you
Speaker 1: meet people you enjoy and you work together. So I
Speaker 1: auditioned for the role of Eugene even though they had
Speaker 1: written it for me. WPR said, you, of course supposedly
Speaker 1: provide Jeen Belcher's voice on Bob's Burgers. Hmmm, Jeene plays
Speaker 1: pranks and plays the key word. What do you and
Speaker 1: Gene have in common? Eugene mermans at a certain probably
Speaker 1: goofy warmth. Gene is what I would be like if
Speaker 1: I were a kid, now to a degree. But I
Speaker 1: think he's a goofy warmed jokester, So that might be
Speaker 1: a bit of what we have in common. Also a
Speaker 1: love of food. Hm. Nicki Glazer was on Bill maher
Speaker 1: As at Club Random. What do you think they talked about? Here?
Speaker 1: I'll give you a hint. The subject is Nicki Glazer.
Speaker 1: What do you think Nicki Glazer talked about? That's right
Speaker 1: Taylor Swift. Maris said, if Taylor Swift said vote for Trump,
Speaker 1: he'd win. That's not good Trump with the supporters. That's
Speaker 1: a cult. But so is this. It's a cult. Maybe
Speaker 1: a cult leader can be a source for good and
Speaker 1: not evil, and I think she genuinely is. I have
Speaker 1: no reason to put her down or desire to. I
Speaker 1: always the greatest respect for a success. You don't want
Speaker 1: to take on Taylor Swift. Joe Cooy, did that you
Speaker 1: remember what happened there? Relaxed Scott. I'm not gonna play it.
Speaker 1: Billy Gardell said when Bob Heart's Abashola wrapped up its
Speaker 1: fifth and final season, he decided to go back to
Speaker 1: the stage. Billy said, I thought I was done with
Speaker 1: stand up. I'd take it three years off to make
Speaker 1: some health changes in my life. And when I came
Speaker 1: off Bob Hart's Abashol, I thought, all right, maybe I'm
Speaker 1: done with stand up. But the bug get me again.
Speaker 1: His comic buddies, Chris Titus, Steve Byrne, Alonza, Bowden, Ian
Speaker 1: Bagg and Jay Leno. That's a crew, pretty good show,
Speaker 1: kept pestering him. New how would you line those people up?
Speaker 1: Let's say, all right here here, let's play this game.
Speaker 1: R It's Billy Gardell, Titus, Steve Byrn, Alonzo, Boden, Ian Bag,
Speaker 1: and Jay Lenol. Right, so Ian's got to open. He's
Speaker 1: at Gardell's show. Is he the headliner in this? So
Speaker 1: he's last, So you gotta put Leno right before him.
Speaker 1: Alonzo's a killer. Steve Burn is not a household name.
Speaker 1: It is pretty good all right, So I would go
Speaker 1: Ian Bag then Titus Burne, Boden, Jay Leno, Billy Gardell,
Speaker 1: you'd go see that show anyway, I digress. Gardell said,
Speaker 1: I went down and saw Ian performing at the Irvine
Speaker 1: Improv with my wife, and man, it hit me. I
Speaker 1: was like, you know what, I'm gonna do this again.
Speaker 1: And so I got back up on stage and I'm like,
Speaker 1: I'm a different person. I've lost one hundred seventy three pounds,
Speaker 1: I'm older, and those were things to write about, and
Speaker 1: I'm an empty nester now. So I found some inspiration again.
Speaker 1: It's just been funny get back up not being said.
Speaker 1: I've gone back to the clubs because you know, nowadays,
Speaker 1: if you're not on the internet, no one knows who
Speaker 1: you are. Man, he had back to back hit CBS sitcoms.
Speaker 1: I hope somebody knows who he is. I'm fifty five now.
Speaker 1: The only channel I watch a CBS. Nobody else cares
Speaker 1: about me. Twenty five to fifty four year olds. They
Speaker 1: care about you. Me, No one cares. I'll just sit
Speaker 1: here with my disposable income and not spend it on
Speaker 1: your products. I digress again, Billy says, so It's kind
Speaker 1: of like starting over, but with no pressure, and I'm
Speaker 1: really enjoying it. At this age, stand up was always
Speaker 1: my first love. Elas Gordell, did I say this already.
Speaker 1: He's fifty five, He's three weeks older than I am,
Speaker 1: so yeah, he should be on CBS. We could watch
Speaker 1: CBS together. At this age, stand up is always my
Speaker 1: first love. I love acting just as much, but stand
Speaker 1: ups Who's brought me the dance And it's great to
Speaker 1: be up on stage in this place where I'm doing
Speaker 1: it just because I want to do it, like you
Speaker 1: feel that way at the beginning, and then if you
Speaker 1: get successful, there's pressure and commitments and all that. And
Speaker 1: I've come through that and I'm at this place where
Speaker 1: I'm just doing it for the love of the game,
Speaker 1: and it's very fulfilling. He talked about having the two sitcoms.
Speaker 1: When you're lucky enough to get a show, when it ends,
Speaker 1: there's a lot of tears and heartbreak because you and
Speaker 1: the cast of the crew you kind of become a family.
Speaker 1: We did that through COVID with no audiences and it
Speaker 1: was just us and they are trying to make this
Speaker 1: little show about love and family and one of the
Speaker 1: great through lines of that show was when you marry somebody,
Speaker 1: you mary their family, and it shows that we're all
Speaker 1: kind of the same. We have a crazy mother, we
Speaker 1: have a wacky sister, we have cool uncle, and it
Speaker 1: reminds us that we're all human. And that show did
Speaker 1: that beautifully. So when it comes to close, you can't
Speaker 1: be two down. You're obviously sad. We have gratitude because
Speaker 1: to have that happen to me twice is just beyond
Speaker 1: my comprehension. To this day, I'm grateful for anybody who's
Speaker 1: watched the work that I've done, and they're the reason
Speaker 1: my kids in film school, and they're the reason I
Speaker 1: have a house late night er. I spoke to Simon Rich,
Speaker 1: he wrote for SNL on the topic John Mullaney. Simon says,
Speaker 1: Mulaney's success is one of the least surprising things I've
Speaker 1: ever seen. It was apparent from the moment I met
Speaker 1: him he was the funniest person in the world. Was instantaneous, Like,
Speaker 1: within the first five or ten minutes I was speaking
Speaker 1: to him, I was convinced he was the funniest person
Speaker 1: on earth. Truly. We started writing together the day we met.
Speaker 1: I couldn't wait. He talked about the writing process. The
Speaker 1: writers get together for a few weeks before the show
Speaker 1: starts to write the commercial parodies, or at least that's
Speaker 1: how we did it in the aughts. So I met
Speaker 1: him on a Tuesday night about a week or two
Speaker 1: before the season started, and if my memory's correct, I
Speaker 1: think we were writing together within minutes of meeting. Did
Speaker 1: he have any favorite sketches that did not make it
Speaker 1: to air? He said, Luckily, we've gotten most of them
Speaker 1: on now because every time Melanie hosts, he forces the
Speaker 1: issue and gets our favorite sketches over the finish line.
Speaker 1: A lot of the sketches we've had on the show
Speaker 1: since twenty eleven have been sketches that we wrote fifteen
Speaker 1: years ago, like toilet Death, Ejector and switcher Root. We
Speaker 1: couldn't get him on the air until Melanie became enormously famous.
Speaker 1: Irene two told the SF Chronicle one thing she learned
Speaker 1: about comedy in La there's no such thing as a
Speaker 1: casual stand up show. She explains, there could be anyone
Speaker 1: here at any time. One time, I was just doing
Speaker 1: a backyard show. I'm like, who cares, We'll do whatever.
Speaker 1: Set wasn't very good, which is fine. Then afterwards I'm like, oh,
Speaker 1: you guys all work at some big agency. Oops in
Speaker 1: the bay. A backyard show was its own reward, she says. Here,
Speaker 1: everyone's just like, yeah, we're just trying to get good
Speaker 1: at stand up. We don't even know if we want
Speaker 1: to do comedy. We're just kind of hanging out. It's
Speaker 1: more nebulous. All right, this next thing here, I'm gonna
Speaker 1: cop to. I'm gonna raise my hand and go guilty.
Speaker 1: I think this is fantastic. I like Irene's comedy a lot,
Speaker 1: but this next thing here, I'm guilty of this. She
Speaker 1: talks about how she gives off Big They energy. Her
Speaker 1: tour is called the Big Vey Energy Tour, and it
Speaker 1: gets its title from what two calls people's ongoing assumption that,
Speaker 1: even after she corrects them, that she uses gender neutral pronouns.
Speaker 1: She describes her comedy as not that gay, but still
Speaker 1: plenty gay for her core audience, but leaving room to
Speaker 1: explore other socio political topics. A recent set at Eli's
Speaker 1: took swings at both lefty activists and fibroids. She's also
Speaker 1: trying to use the stage more move around a little bit.
Speaker 1: Some people use the whole stage, and I'm like, but
Speaker 1: where am I going? Portland Mercury spoke to Tina Frill.
Speaker 1: Tina said, one time I came home from an open
Speaker 1: mic and I asked my mom was in the audience,
Speaker 1: and said, were the clapping because I was actually good?
Speaker 1: Or were they clapping because I'm disabled? It was inspiring?
Speaker 1: And she said, well, maybe a little of both, and
Speaker 1: that sent me into a total breakdown. I never thought
Speaker 1: I could be good at being a comedian. It was
Speaker 1: never something that interested me, but I fell into it
Speaker 1: on a whim. Something to do. Comedy was a bucket
Speaker 1: list thing, some way to get on stage. I never
Speaker 1: thought i'd get a little in a stand up comedy,
Speaker 1: but that maybe it would ease my anxiety for stage
Speaker 1: and I could finally sing on stage and bring myself
Speaker 1: to perform. But the knack I had for it in
Speaker 1: the external validation people tell telling me I had something
Speaker 1: there as for leaning into disability as part of the
Speaker 1: set or not, Tina said, I remember the first couple
Speaker 1: of times doing it up with Mike get In talk
Speaker 1: about disability, and it only took a matter of a
Speaker 1: few weeks. It was one tag at the end of
Speaker 1: a joke. Oh, I've got a good life, great friends,
Speaker 1: great family, of this beautiful state. I got a little
Speaker 1: bit of brain damage, but that's okay, and it hit
Speaker 1: It hit like no other joke in a way that
Speaker 1: was like an icebreaker. And then quickly after that I
Speaker 1: wrote the joke of I'm disabled, don't worry, You're gonna
Speaker 1: be okay, and all the jokes orbited around that one concept.
Speaker 1: For me, it's the stuff I wish I could say
Speaker 1: to people in person, on the bus, across the counter,
Speaker 1: and it comes from rage, the quiet rage that they
Speaker 1: would just try and go about my life and I
Speaker 1: would make people uncomfortable constantly. And that's why I say
Speaker 1: I suffer from people. It's got nothing to do with
Speaker 1: my disability, but all those micro reactions all day, every day.
Speaker 1: I never set out to write this comedy so people
Speaker 1: could walk out with an enlightened perspective. I didn't want
Speaker 1: to change them or their outlook. I just wanted to
Speaker 1: call them out and sort of like get above it.
Speaker 1: If I'm being honest, I think not wanting to be
Speaker 1: put in a box comes from some internal ableism. It's
Speaker 1: that ronic that often in interviews. I'll say one thing,
Speaker 1: which is that I don't want to be seen as
Speaker 1: a disabled comic. Yet my actual comedy a lot of
Speaker 1: it revolves around disability. Good stuff, they're really interesting in.
Speaker 1: That is your comedy news for today. If you enjoy
Speaker 1: the program, tell a friend about it. They might like it.
Speaker 1: Two numbers have been up. Really appreciate you all listening
Speaker 1: every day. If you would like the program without a
Speaker 1: commercial interruption. There's a way to do that link in
Speaker 1: the show notes. Short version. It's five bucks a month.
Speaker 1: You know it's October, so you'll get thirty one of these.
Speaker 1: Divide five by thirty one. Who can do that? Deacon Mike,
Speaker 1: do that and send me the answer. Anyway, it's probably
Speaker 1: not a lot of money. You'll get this and the
Speaker 1: other shows on the network without commercial interruption. For example,
Speaker 1: I host another podcast that's called five Good News Stories,
Speaker 1: and just this past weekend we started doing on Saturday,
Speaker 1: five Good News Christmas Stories. I know that it's early October,
Speaker 1: believe me. I also like ad revenue. Christmas stuff sells
Speaker 1: baby all right, see tomorrow